Motion City Soundtrack/Schatzi

As those kids raised on steady diets of ’80s rock radio and indie punk start reconciling their disparate influences, there are more bands writing songs akin to a trend Weezer started. These two bands, both of whom are set to release full-length discs later this year, offer up three slabs of melodic, hook filled power pop. Minneapolis quintet MCS subscribe to Ozma/the Cars school, which finds big throbbing beats and thick guitars augmented with squonky Moog synth lines. What more suitably retro sound could there be for an ode to the origins of break dancing? Austin quartet Schatzi takes a slightly more ethereal approach to their songs multiple part harmonies juxtaposed against gnarly mid-tempo Weezer-like drive. The fact that they close the disc with a reverent cover of Journey's "Any Way You Want It" that doesn't sound out of place is evidence that the gap between ‘80s radio rock and indie pop trends has never been narrower.